When the Miami Dolphins traded down from the No. 8 spot in the NFL draft's first round to the No. 13 spot in the same round in exchange for cornerback Byron Maxwell and linebacker Kiko Alonso, there was much studying of the situation internally. Tons.
And this is what the team ultimately concluded: The Dolphins believed they were going to get a starting cornerback. A starting linebacker. And another starter with the 13th pick because that player was going to be no less a contributor than if they had selected him No. 8.
No. 13 was, correction, is going to be a starter, according to the Dolphins.
"We talked about it shortly after coming back from Indy, we started kicking around," executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum said. ""It’s great. Tom [Garfinkel], Steve [Ross], obviously Chris [Grier], Adam [Gase], we had a lot of discussion about it and in a cap system you only have finite resources so to trade back and get two guys we’re projecting as starters and it’s reasonable to think we’ll get a starter at 13 if we stay there, to get three starters in one trade we just all felt like, ‘Hey, we’re not one player away.’ This is an efficient use of cap resources, of capped resources and just felt like it was in our best interest."
Ok, so Tannenbaum doesn't come right out and proclaim the No. 13 pick will be a starter. But he's as close to saying it as you can get.
So let me try again...because Adam Gase said it.
"We got two starters and we're going to add a third at 13," Gase said during the NFL annual meeting. "I look at it as, we moved back five spots and got three starters. I was all for it. I know this: one guy is not going to change our team. So adding three starters for us was a big deal. We had a lot of needs we needed to fill, so when we started talking with those guys, and Mike felt good about the two players we were going to get, I felt really good about it."
And, folks, if this is how it plays out, we should all give the Dolphins a round of applause because three starters for moving back five slots in the first round is good business anyway you cut it. It really is compelling stuff assuming the starters are solid players.
But (yeah, there's always one a but), how can the Dolphins be so all fired certain No. 13 will be a starter?
How?
I mean, sure, that is obviously the plan. No team picks in the first round thinking, this guy cannot start for us. No team plans for that.
But it happens.
Wide receiver DeVante Parker was No. 14 overall last year. And training camp came and went and he wasn't a starter. And the season's first month came and went and he wasn't starting. October and November passed and still not starting. It wasn't until December, amid the realization that the season was going nowhere and injuries had taken Rishard Matthews, that Parker started four of the final five games.
So he was a starter but it sure took a while.
Dion Jordan was No. 3 overall. Not a starter. Indeed, not even in the media guide last year because, you know, that drug suspension made him invisible.
More at the link..
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolp...verall-pick-will-absolutely-be-a-starter.html
And this is what the team ultimately concluded: The Dolphins believed they were going to get a starting cornerback. A starting linebacker. And another starter with the 13th pick because that player was going to be no less a contributor than if they had selected him No. 8.
No. 13 was, correction, is going to be a starter, according to the Dolphins.
"We talked about it shortly after coming back from Indy, we started kicking around," executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum said. ""It’s great. Tom [Garfinkel], Steve [Ross], obviously Chris [Grier], Adam [Gase], we had a lot of discussion about it and in a cap system you only have finite resources so to trade back and get two guys we’re projecting as starters and it’s reasonable to think we’ll get a starter at 13 if we stay there, to get three starters in one trade we just all felt like, ‘Hey, we’re not one player away.’ This is an efficient use of cap resources, of capped resources and just felt like it was in our best interest."
Ok, so Tannenbaum doesn't come right out and proclaim the No. 13 pick will be a starter. But he's as close to saying it as you can get.
So let me try again...because Adam Gase said it.
"We got two starters and we're going to add a third at 13," Gase said during the NFL annual meeting. "I look at it as, we moved back five spots and got three starters. I was all for it. I know this: one guy is not going to change our team. So adding three starters for us was a big deal. We had a lot of needs we needed to fill, so when we started talking with those guys, and Mike felt good about the two players we were going to get, I felt really good about it."
And, folks, if this is how it plays out, we should all give the Dolphins a round of applause because three starters for moving back five slots in the first round is good business anyway you cut it. It really is compelling stuff assuming the starters are solid players.
But (yeah, there's always one a but), how can the Dolphins be so all fired certain No. 13 will be a starter?
How?
I mean, sure, that is obviously the plan. No team picks in the first round thinking, this guy cannot start for us. No team plans for that.
But it happens.
Wide receiver DeVante Parker was No. 14 overall last year. And training camp came and went and he wasn't a starter. And the season's first month came and went and he wasn't starting. October and November passed and still not starting. It wasn't until December, amid the realization that the season was going nowhere and injuries had taken Rishard Matthews, that Parker started four of the final five games.
So he was a starter but it sure took a while.
Dion Jordan was No. 3 overall. Not a starter. Indeed, not even in the media guide last year because, you know, that drug suspension made him invisible.
More at the link..
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolp...verall-pick-will-absolutely-be-a-starter.html
